The Sun. — London, England, 1818-12-15 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER ELECTION. A 'Meeting of the F.-lectors for Westmiuniter, re 'slding in the parishes of St. John and St..Marga let, was yesterday called at a building in Market -street, to consider of the best . tnenns for securing "the return of Mr. aointousE to Parliament. Shortly after one o'clock, Mr. ilobbouse, Mr. Brooks,' Mr Richter, and several other Gentle men, made their appearance. A Mr. Wilson was placed in the Chair, and a .series of Resolutions were read, setting forth the importance of cowl :wing the struggle for the independence of West minster, enforcing the necessity of choosing a fit and proper person to advocate the cause of Par. liameurAry Reform /by the side of Sir Francis Burdett, and describing Mr. Hohltouse to be a Gentleman entitled to the snppOrt of the Electors. The t+vo first Resolutions were put and carried Ntiihout discussion. When the third was sub. ,rimed to the meeting, Mr. Llobbouse came for. to A Mr. liouie presented himself at the saute time, and Mr. flonhottse retired. Rlr Jim,.ra t hen made some observations on the t‘v o Resohitions bad already been car ried, and spoke at ninelt ogtti in praise of Sir F. llnish-tt, who, hr contended, bad oobly fOnght tbe ,battles of the people, and done LII• ;hat it was possible for him to do in theircause.. cu;►sider ed Mi'.l-Jobbonse,froin his attachment to theprin cinlps of liberty, to be 'a fit person to 'sit by the side of Sir Ft (olds Burdett ; and strongly recom sue,,ded hint to the support of the meetina. Mr. Hostiouse next spoke. Doling, the late Eiection he had had miich experience of the feel in.gs ot the Electors in the united parishes of St. Julio am! Vic, Alargznet, ai:d be knew that they bad great diflienhies to contend \vith, from their I both to Church and Slate tie dis dain-1,-d a ll int e ntio n of speaking with disrespect of that invisible church which bound society to gether 11 the sacred ties of religion. The church of which he spoke, was 'a church of brick and stone, gf wen and mortar. Of the influence that church .e.xt seised, many of those he addressed. must be already apprised. The great Abbey in their neighbourhood had revenues accruing to it front eight different counties, amounting to 80,0001. more or less. He admitted the Mi nisters of Religion ought to have a good coat to preach in, hut what he objected to was the stalls and the Bishopricks, and the other expensive esta blishivents provided for those connected with the Church, to enable them to opoose.theliberties of the people. The Church and State, and he might add the prison in their neighbourhood, for all three went together, were ever found in opposition to the rights of the public. In the course of the late Election, lie had had the pleasure to become at i_ vi i n t v d is ith 4 Society that had bens formed to secure the independence of the Parishes of St. Aliirginet and St. John. 'Some of its members be • ion! (lieu the pleasure to see. He hoped they'' Nvtiold perseveri: in their efforts, whatever might b.. said of them, eveu'thongh they should be called traitors. lit point of fact they were traitorsf-- they were traitors to treason. Originally trea son meant a crime against the State, th oug h now that only was regarded as treason which was a ct ime against the Sovereign. Formerly trea son meant an offence against the Majesty of the People, and armlet) that people had resided at Rome, he did not know why the majesty of the people should not be held to exist in England as well as in any other country. Ne stronv.ly insisted on the to ct'ssity of making the most_ of the- restraints which the people yet possessed on the Government, by returning those who would make their real sentiments known in Parliament. Without this our I-louse of Com mons would become what the French Parliament was formerly, merely a Chamber to register edicts for taxing the country. • The same Corms might still be retained; we might have a ,House ut Com mo63, itito which five or six hundred Gentlemen wotrld lounge as into a coffee-howe. They might have a table tricked out with various fooleries, with Clerks about it, and with a bauble at the bottom of it a n d a blockhead at the . fop (he might say this, as, at present, there was no S c eaker in existence), but if the people bad not a substantial check on the Government, they would become mere cattle, and lose that erect form which God had originally bestowed iipritefreemen, to distinguish them from the brutes around them, that perish. On the importance of Parliamentary Reform, he descanted with great an im a tio n , and lordly inveighed against the con doet of Government. He then, the better to in gratiate himself with the woithies who constitut ed the meeting, spoke very highly in favour of mobs, and concluded by maintaining that it were hatler for thew that they should have a id of their choice to represent them, than a good man chosen by any body else, because in the one - cro.e a time would tome when the unworthy itioiyidtial might he turned out, but in the other they would he denied the privilege of choosing for themselves for all time to come. This considered, he prvsumen to hope, tliat whether he (Air. HlNiousc) were a bad or a good man, th e y would do better to elect hint than to suffer another to be elected for diem. The Resolution was then carried, Other Resolutions were agreed to, and a Corn ti truce teas to forward the interests of I.lr. Hohhouse, tt pith, it was annotroced, would sit every day at the Red Lion, in Princes-street. - Mr. Mon raft addressed the Meeting on the itecessiry of commencing' an active canvass ; and Tnanks having been given to the Chainnau, the business terioi out ed, Crowder, who was indicted, and Was to have. been tried for the robbery of the Stirling mail coach of a box, containing a large qoantity of Bank-notes belonging to the Stilling Bank, has bean liberated, the Bank having declined to Pro ceed any further in the business.—(Eduiturgh Paper.) yesterday evening an Invest was held at the Iloui) and Groves, Queen-square, Westminster, on the body of the Rev. Mr. JOHN GRINLEY, 01 Q:!ley n , ho was found dead laSt Saturday. r his bedroom floor. Verdict, " Died , tLe visitativa Qud.", LAW INTELLIGtcEi. VICE-CI4ANdELLOR'S COURT, DEC. 14. TIiB CNIVERSITIRS OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. V. BLAKE AND OTHERS. The sottottott-GP,Nl3am. moved, on the part of the Chancelhirs, Masters, and 'enowt of the two Universities, for an injunction to restrain the defendants from continuing the sale of certain works, the exclusive copyright of which is vested in those public bodieS by leittrt patent.- Tile books in question were the Holy Scriptures, and the Book of Common Prayer. An edition of the former had recently been published under the title of Gurney's Bible, with a Commentary and An notations. These were, however, nothing inure than a pretext, and were used only to colour - sit invasion of literacy proper' y. A • separate edition, of quarto size, accompanied by reflections, had 41116 been offered to the world by the saint book selleis, together with two copies of the Prayer book. One of these professed to he an abridge mutt, but in point cat fact contained the whole of that portion of the service which is usually tend. Tice other gave t! e whole text, subjoining a va riety of annotations. As the originals could not legally be published without a hclence limn' one of the Univeiiities, he tipprtiherided that the ad dition of notes, or omission. of [tartlet:tar parts; Most be considered as a mere atteinpt disguise, and would not be allowed by a Cliurt of Equity to defeat a va4ible ptivikge. The VICE-CHANCELLOR granted the injunction; and the rest 01 the day was occupied in the hear ing several cases of no general or peculiar in terest. [T.►e Procee►lings in the other Courts were of no particular ir,terest except to the parties con cerned.] OLD BA 1 LEY. [We yesterday stated the proceedings tvhicl► had taken place on the Trials of the Ptisouers charged with ihe crime of having forged Bank Notes, but Were oblig - ed to go to press before we coulc► know the result, We now state the proceedings and result altogether] At 10 o'clock, Mr. Baron WooD, Mr. Justice HOLROTD, and tl►e 11Ecoapert, took their seats on the Bench. The following prisoners, on Bank prosecutions, were then bron t iht into the DL) , -Ic, viz —Brode rick, Jones, Davies, Clarker, ileffert, Kingston, king, Townsend, O'Hara, nod three others. The following Jur:, were then sworn : Messrs. Edward Wilkinson -(Foreman), Geo. Gould, Robert Newman, Wm. Abbotr, ,James Windt's, James Alderman,' Bent Bright, Jere miah Bimini, Ruhr. Ilanghton, John Lynch, Jo seph E. :Miller, and Jobb Williams. Richard Broderick was then put to the Bar. Scijeant BosANQUET rose, 1:1111) addre3sed the Court 85 flinows My Lord,—Before the prisoner is put to the bar to take his trial on this indictment, 1 think it necessary to address an observatiOn or two to your Lordship. It has been for a long course of years the practice of the prosecutors, in cases of this kind, to prefer two indictments against per sons charged with the offence of forgery against the Bank—one of . them for uttering the note knowing it to be forged ; and five other for what is called the minor offence, namely, having in the prisoner's possession without lawful excuse, and .knowing it to be forged. This has been the uni form course during all my experienCe ;,and .where, ever the parties have been permitted to plead to the minor offtocc, the op/Molitor) has uniformly come from the prisoner to the prosectitor ; and without the slightest intimation lrom thebllter aq to the particular election Ulrich - may be made by the accused. I find that the prisontr at the bar was one of those who, early in the present Sea .sions, applied to the prosecutors to be Permitted to plead to the minor offence, and that they ac• ceded to his application by the permission of the Court. Now while this plea stands,. We, on the, part of the prosecution, have no wish ui proceed against the prisoner on the capital charge ; 'on . the contrary, it is our earliest wish not to he called upon to carry the prosecution still further, with such a plea'opon record. It is therefore my hurtiliTe prayer, in this stage of the proceeding, tit be per ,mitted to withdraw the prosecution against the prisoner for the capital charge. Mr. Baron Woopz—" But I understand there is some petition front certain prisoners respecting the withdrawal of the plea out record." Mr. SHELTON—" The prisoner, my Lord, is -not one of the petitioners " Mr. Baron ‘V000—" Prisoner, you have al rtatly pleaded guilty to the minor offence ; do you wish to withdraw your plea 1" Prisoner—" I signed some paper on Friday, but I did not know it contents." Mr. Baron Woon—" Then do you, or do you not, abide by your former plea ?" Prisoner—" I don't want to withdraw my plea." Mr. Baron Wouo—" Then do you persevere in pleading guilty to 'be charge of having in'your possession a forged - Bank Note, knowing it to be forged ? Because, if you do, the prosecutors say they will not proceed against you on the capital charge ; but it you withdraw your plea, it will hr at their option to proceed on whichever indict ment they 'please. Yon had better let the know what it is you say you have signed." Prisoner*" I signed a paper Nronght to me by a fellow-pristmir on Friday, but I don't know what it was.• „Mr.. Raton Woon—“ Where is this paper ?” 111 r. REYNOLDS (who was one of the Counsel for tbe Batik) said, that the petition presented by . some of the prisoners wits handed into Court an tecedent to Friday, so that whatever paper was signed by the prisoner must have been a distinct document from-that alluded to. Mr.• Baron IVooD-•—" Who 'brought you the paper tvbieh you signed ?" isoner—" I don't know."—(A voice in the Cour: cried It was Miller!') -Mr. Set - knot BosA:NaurT said, that the Bank Directors' were only : anxions that the prisoner . r.b t oulci know oleatiy tbe bi:UUtiOD iu 1711411 he ..stnivi, and receive whatever indulgence The Court thought proper to grant him. Mr. Baron Weon—" Prisoner, do I still un derstand you to persevere in saying that you plead guilty to the charge of having a forged &auk note ' knowingly in your possession ?" • Prisoner—" I did not know it to be forged." 111 r. Baron Woub—" Then you should plead not guilty." - - Plisourr—" I rather plead guilty, an!) throw myself on the mercy of the Court." Mr. Browne, the Keeper of Newgate, said that he had got a letter from the Bank Solicitor some da.ys ago, and he immediately apprised the pri soners of the situation in which,they stood, Mr. Serjeant BosaNQuEt here insisted that this lettershonid be produced and read in open Court. This wa-saccordingly dime by Mr. Shelton. 'The letter was from Mr Rooker, the Bank Solicitor, and merely gave notice to the prisoners that they won't, be arraigned on the Ft iday following, Ist, on the capital charge ; and 2dly, on the minor offence, except with respect to the prisoners Collyer, and Dye, against ivitom the Bank meant to proceed on the cap?al clEirge. Mr. Brown said he had apprised the prisoners of this notice exactW in the terms it Conveyed. Mr. 13aron Woof) then repeated to the prisoner the witure of the two indictments which weie against bitn; Enid advised him ti; consider what he, was aboot, adding, "Yon haYe already plea& ed, guilty to the charge which exposes you to r •sporration for 14 years ; clo you wish to withdilw that' vici, and put Yourstit upon your trial ? if % yciu do not, all tlh.t remains to 'the Conti is, to pilss the sentence which the Liw awards for the offence of which you confess your self guilty. Do yOu now confess that you had this note in your possession, knowing it to be forged '?" Prionur—" I did not know it to he forged." Mr i"rian Fhe ill you 14ad (WI guilty ituit b e (red ; U:desg yon koeiv it to he forged, you !lave committed no crime." l'iison,t—" I (to not want to be tried, or to withiba , v toy, plea. I throw myself on the ructey of the Court." Mr Raton WOOD—" Then you prefer being transported for 14. years to . stauding your trial s and making the.pr6seeutor move his case out of other mouths t h your own i" Pris:►.ter Yes." Mr Bacon Woon—" Wtll, then, his plea must stand." Mt. Seijeant BosANauFIT then said, that the Bank did not meat) toproceed against the pri soner to the capital charge. Ile was accordingly arraigned on the capital charge, and acquitted, there being no evidence adduced against him. He, of course, in consequence of his plea of guilty to rite minor offence, is liable to fourteen years' transportation. William Jones was next put_ to the bar. On retetence to tlae petition presented to the Cf)art on a former day it Was found to contain the signature of the prisoner, who wished to re voke his plea of guilty to the minor offence - . Mr. Baron 'Noon then addpessed him—" Pri soner, you have signed thiS petition, I believer Prisoner—" Yes, toy Lord." Mr. Balm) Woon—" Then 1 find if is your de site to withdraw your plea of guilty to the indict ment for the lesser offence, and to eknOse self to•tt ink both tor- the capital . and the lesser charge, at the discretion of the prosecutor ?" Prisoner—" Yes, I am teady to go to trial." Mr. Serjeifut Bos.stto.o FT said the Batik had no wish, one way or the other, in these Gases, but for public juslire; he therefore hoped the pi i souer would merely consult his own feelings, and yeceiVe:froM the Court whatever indulgence he wag thought entitled to. Mr. 'Baron 1Voop—" The prisoner is one of those who have petitioned for permissioo to with draw the . plea already recorded. The Court is ready to grant the prayer of their petition, and the prisoner,most abide the consetpences." The Prisoner—" My Lord, I wish to know irbether, if I am discharged on toy trial for the Capital' offence, 1 AA be transported afterwards for the minor offe.ce ?" •Mr. 13ron Woon—" That most entirely depend on the result of your trials, should the prosecutors go upon both." - 'The Prisoner then said, that he had keen pre vailed'upon to plead godly to - the minor offence. On being asked by the Court by whom he had been so persuaded, the Prisoner replied, by Mr. Browne and Mr. Bisiospp. Mr. Browne declared to the Court that ;his as sertion was totally take. Ile had never iuter fered`to direct the prisoners as to any paricular course ; nor hid he ever-spoken to them but in the presence of witnesses, who.could prove the falsehood of the assertion now wade by the pri soner at the bar. I'l►e CounT said they were falifconvinced he had acted as he °sight ro'have itane. The_prisoner was then about to be arraigned on the capital,Charge, when Mr. Setieaut BosAN aus:T stated, that in this case he ruetely wished to try the prisoner on the minor indictmemt, the saute to which he had already pleaded guilty, but whiCh plea lie had now recalitd. The indictment was for passing two forged 1/. Notes, on the 19th olNovember ldst. Mr. Sedum! B9SANGWET, iu stating this case to the Jury, thought it necessary to make several explanatory observations respecting the condtiet of the Bank. The course of iiroceeding in Bank . proSecutious had been, he said,.for nearly a cen tury, that of instituting two indictments, such as had been already described ; and they had adopt ed this course upt;n motives which they at least thought were' beneficial to the party accused, anti such as reconciled mercy with the ends of pnblic justice. The Learned Serjeant then reviewed the diffeient eegrees of criminality in forgeries of this nature, f he original fabricator to the lure' er, and pointed out that the Magistrate always made nut the cow wittal according as be viewed the complexion of the offence, and then bound over the prosecufor so as to render his appearance itn perative on the trial. lf, in applying to the C ourt to grant prisoners permission to plead guilty to the minor offence, the Bank had erred, the error was at the side of mercy Co the prisoner, for the proof ortmthe minor indictment Was tile tam:. t. Lich woula couplet on tii ririet crime. He crinienli el t . that the certainty of the punithinent for the ' nor offence was no ineffectual way to repress.'" criminality to Which it was applied. He uheri begged to correct several erroneous statements. Nviiich had gone throw, anionk rhe public. 1 t had been asserted that the Bank, in consequenceol the acquittal- of certain prisoners on a totmer day. had acknowledged itself to be in error respecting the law as it related to prosecutions of this kind, and had abandoned certain other prosecution's."'" This was not the fact : they had abandoned nei prosecutions in the manner stated. They had given op two pio3ecutions merely because the evidence they had in support of thern,had beet discredited by a former Jury, and they would . not, therefore, press a second time upon 8 0 1 Jury evidence which had been deemed instifii.' ctent by the Jury that preceded them. He alsti thought it important to correct another mistake. It had been siated„ that certain unfortunate net*" sons, who dow lays Under capital convictions, had an opportunity from the Bank ofplearling gatY to the minor offence. There was Hot a word of truilt in this : the Bank, on the former, as well as oil • all other occasions, han'given the usual ontice the prisoners respecting their'trials, and whether for the capital or the minor offence. The Learned Serjeant then stated the pailicu." , . tars of the evidence against the prisoner At the bar. Uhricks smote that the pritioner tcreii h.a shop, in tiolhora, at about six or , seveti o'clock of the _evening lair! in the indi c t m ent, and cifeled a pound note in payment of a hat lie . 9 uspected the mire to be a forge; y, and ,a,uked rue pilsoner for his Dante and' address, whiLdi he g ec as William Joy, Eagle-street. Witness scot ills SO; ascertain whether this vca 3 , correct, and detained the prisoner 'until re' tuco, whet) leernitig that the address So given waa irucoruect, the priJoeer was taken into custo4. - lie then ackno.wledgen his name to be Joneuz. wa s searched, and another note, included i n the indictment, as found trim • This evidence wasconrirmed by Joseph Ilancks John Lt es, a Bank Inspector, deputed, that the notes now before the Court were forgeries. fie knew . them to be• - fOrgelies by many irctimsranco• The date and number of Bank-notes e;•ere all Lute. reutyped, but nor so in the forgeries. lii the paper matte for the Bank the water-mark was. formed at the tlme of making it, but in the forge* ties-it 'was pencilled. He had no doribt that the :note now - exhibited was a forgery. la answer to nuestons from Jurors, he s tated. 'that there was no Other tne . ans of detecting a for!. gery that 112 . 00111(1 satisfactorily explaiii. Ha chiefly relied on his exiierietice; the paper wits different from that u sed by the B a nk. The 13,14 , bad, :in one instance, laden a fu , rged note, mis ,B ! ( " ing it for genuine; but the note was old, Mutt.", defaced, and had paper pasted on the back. Charles Tabor, a signing Cletk, nettle affixed to the present note was not his writing' H e ctiukf not be Mistaken. The prisoner made no defence, but left hiinilei r to the mercy of ,the Court. • Mr. Baron Woon charged flue J.ary.—ln b • charge, the Learners Baron particularly coinineov , ed on the evidence sopport of t he forgery, HO" added, that if that evidence which bad been doced Was not sufficient to prove forgery, th e A rl there was no such thing as forgery, and it w" 41! " be for ever imposSible to convict any multi in fu'' tore of such- a•crime. Whatever the public opi nion might be• relative to the law, the Court ati" Jury were bound to abide by it its it stood et pre"• scot. The Jury conaulred for fire minutes, and fron d the piisoi:t-r—Guilty. trni : Davies was then pot to the bar, and err raigued upon the capital offence of oretiog forge note!., hutowing them to !lase been forged. t Mt. Setjeant BoSANQuaT said, he 'hoof(' °- call witnesses upon that plea. The prisoner vri" s ,r of course aequi!ted. Mr. Justice HoLanYD then told rite prisoner." stood indicted for the minor offence of iwvini forged.notes in his posgession, to which he lik : 1 pleaded guilty. The Judge ohaerved that he 0 .11 not see the prisoner's nam e in th e petition", 91 ',, r.sked whe;her it was his wish to withdraw plea of guilty. Prisoner.-1 do not, my Lottl; I confess air sell grail , y. Clarker was brought op next, anti asked by Mr. Baron WOoD whet her it was hi e wish_ to withdraw his ple a o f g uilty to the offence, and he answered in the affirmative. b if trial had nothing peculiar in it ; the witne sses • were three different tradesmen, to whom -he " A passed forged notes, and in every case he h"" given a' d7fferent name and address. The Jury, without hesitation, ptonounced Guilty oi. the transportable felony. • • ot i He was then indicted on the capital cbarP but no evidence 'being adduced, h e was acqui" el upon +hi% indictment. • ~s t oftt . • John Morris, Jeremiah Hefted, John Kolb . David O'Hara, and King, were alterf ward severally brought up, when John M Ol declined withdrawing his plea of guilty tc) 01.i6 minor charge. The other tour signified their,it _, , tention of withdrawing it ; and after softie eo ll l,e sution betwt•n Mr. Sergeant BosallonaT and. the' Judges, they were told their trial woold ta place on Wednesday morning, except t ha i t i of O'Hara, in whose case affidavits Were , the illness of a material wictiess; 'and his tut was, in consequence putt of next SesSio_ ls _ • 0 „, se" The Judges then left the Couit, and %- the MoN SetuJEANT proceeded with the ordina r y -/ B Hutis. On the tc2th inst. Mrs. Vesin, of Hie:l:bury-park, of a su. and dm :Kilter. tke On the 13tii. inst. at his hone in Nottinghamn"P taect Lady of Hog!: Ruse, Esq. of a son. DIED. Sto Ou the Bth inst. after a short illness, John Courtof, Martin's-street, LficrStyr-square. 4 4 * Provincial Dirt &c. To-tnorrovp t e UM:DON: Printed 1173. B. cAngrAnts, Of No. r' W. A• n Onood ee -strt, Queen-square; and published 15 !ie .) • SCRIPPS, of • No. 7,• South • Moltort- stre rt, at ilotders, Ottico, No. 11!.. Strmod ; where Advettisenierlt*l Letters / Ssc. (post - lot,id) must 1;e-mialres5cd. • / N N' fences.. tilt Art Ord next, , ~~ 'that 0 t`eceitte 4",y 3 toe of 4terde Ir QfNu ; 7'hc ~~'!ur~ 4V6 that , n 4 e, Thur so Ltake.v ti n•Stoo , ` y two Part y fo - ni a , ...._____ ~7 " Fri - rect 1 4e 41, 7 . , SEA p t'e ' r ViCE tiLeiVe l aithon Th e t eery, lector I .iVa t~~rtlJ n l ivered 14 ' 81.4 the T e * ter It C 11 71 tl,O the p a Nrfi, ..` NE w '4:17 1C I 111 C .10r lb( ,ICSC, wont thirp: n rcr, ta r ,. th e louse frum for Cc ~~ Sold tolid o 4)3 rcla side /land; (s„. a„ , 0 Africa As e:rdm '!Noth c 1 ,„, 1-4' " ung • 1 1 :t t ilg I I 1 4 . k rAtt ~...